The most popular ad campaign in Japan—it’s been running for six years—features “the White family”: mother, daughter, father (a human in a dog’s body), son (a black American), and maid (an alien incarnation of Tommy Lee Jones). Quentin Tarantino and a Japanese astronaut have made cameo appearances. The ads are for SoftBank, a mobile provider; there are no subtitles, but the surrealism transcends the language barrier. Watch a bunch of the ads here.

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Boy, I sure am glad the Bloomberg article didn't ask any trademark lawyers for insight on the topic of trademark registration of banal phrases. Best not to let facts interfere with misleading the public about the PTO and how trademarks work. At least one of the commenters weighed in with some clarification ...